Athletic Director Jeff Kosin explains explains how the new pool robot works.

Social media boiled over among swim parents last week as news splashed that both Clarkston High School Varsity Girls Swim team and Clarkston Sea Wolves club were without a coach.
“It’s an outrage! The district has no idea how to run a USA Swim Club and the pool is disgusting since they let the head coach go,” said one mom, whose daughter has been a part of the club for the past four years. “Clarkston puts most all of its athletic funds into football, which is a boy’s sport. USA swimming is a very competitive, possibly national level, sport for both girls and boys. And it’s a sport that trains and competes year round, not just three months per year.”
The outrage moved the school district to schedule a special meeting on Monday with swim parents at Clarkston High School.
One father said the coach and safety issues were addressed.
“I’d like to thank all who raised the questions,” he said. “We got answers that didn’t seem to be coming any other

way. I hope the communications stay open and above board going forward.”
One mother said community education is in over their heads.
“We don’t get a lot of answers as to how the money is going to be spent,” she said. “There is no accountability on when things are going to be fixed. If we’re going to have somebody in here soon, we don’t have dates on when things are going to be fixed.”
According to Clarkston Community Schools’ Superintendent Dr. Rod Rock, after the former Sea Wolves Head Coach Kenwyn Chock retired from CCS, the district’s Human Resources department conducted a search and hired Paul Peterson for both the high school’s girls’ varsity team and the Clarkston swim club.
“The Sea Wolves was an outside entity run by Coach Chock. With the transition of the swim program, the district established a new youth program, with the new coach, called Titans,” Rock explained. “We placed this program under the auspices of Community Education, through which we run all camps and clubs. This allows for oversight according to board policies.”
Part of the reason for the name change from Clarkston Sea Wolves to the Clarkston Titans was because Coach Chock owned the copyright to both the Sea Wolves name and logo.
With a new coach on board, it came as a shock to the district when they received an e-mail on Friday, Aug. 12, stating Peterson was resigning for “personal” reasons, which to the district are still unknown.
According to Rock, Coach Peterson was the only one hired for the programs, and no one has been fired.
Other cleanliness and safety concerns included chemical balance in the pool, the starting blocks and the tile floor that surrounds the pool.
“I just know they have used my kids to dive deep into the pool to clean out hairballs that they refused to maintain,” added another mom. “My kids have cut themselves and hurt themselves on the starting blocks.”
Rock said the district is maintaining the pool as part of their summer maintenance schedule.
“Recently, and in collaboration with Coach Peterson, the district purchased a new robot vacuum for the pool. Our custodial staff samples the water daily. Our maintenance staff takes samples to the Department of Environmental Quality weekly,” Rock explained. “We contract with an outside company to perform monthly inspections of pool water, pool mechanical equipment, and pool conditions. Our maintenance staff, per their summer maintenance schedule, is and will continue to address all issues to ensure the safety of our students.”
He noted that the health department also came out on Aug. 18 to inspect the pool
“The inspection passed with zero findings,” Rock said. “The inspector is writing a report and has deemed the pool safe for use, which was never in question as we have procedures in place to ensure the safety of our students.”
Athletic Director Jeff Kosin has hired Amber Miller to take over the girls’ varsity team.
Clarkston Titans Club practices will start Sept. 6 with new Coach Kevin Steel. For more information or questions, e-mail swimcoachsteel@gmail.com. See next week’s edition of The Clarkston News to learn more about Coach Steel.